Since U.S. Magistrate Judge Jon Scoles handed down his decision that Sholom Rubashkin, former Agriprocessors chief executive, should remain in federal custody pending a hearing on various criminal charges, the Jewish community throughout the nation has openly questioned if at least a portion of the judge’s argument amounted to discrimination.

On Monday night, the final night of Hanukkah, a group of about 50 people gathered outside the Dubuque County Jail where Rubashkin is being held, to perform religious rituals and light an oversized menorah.

Most of the people who peacefully protested the ruling in Dubuque, according to a report by Andy Piper of The Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, drove the 70-some miles from Postville.  But the demonstration was cut short by law enforcement officials who said that the event had gone beyond what had been expected and that they could not allow public-access areas to be blocked.

“This is very troubling for all Jews across the U.S.,” said Amy Dickel, a Postville businesswoman who helped organize the demonstration. “We think this is a new legal thing. [U.S. Attorney] Mr. [Matt] Dummermuth basically has a different legal interpretation that says if you are a Jew, then you are a flight risk.”

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Demonstrators Sunday held signs reading “Where is the Bill of Rights?” “Equal protection under the law” and “No bail for Jews.”

“Hanukkah is a symbol of freedom and light and hope,” Dickel said. “We think this is one U.S. attorney who is out of hand.”

Abraham Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, has appealed in writing to the U.S. Attorney General for the U.S. Dept. of Justice to make a blanket policy that would prevent general use of Israel’s Law of Return in detention hearings concerning Jews.

Agriprocessors, which never fully recovered from a massive May 12 immigration raid, has been placed in the hands of a bankruptcy trustee. The trustee has resumed limited production and continues to work with potential buyers.